Grasping From The Darkness
by itsrainingmasks
Summary: Erik has survived the thought of college now he has to do it. His goal is to focus all his attention on music and grades but when he develops a relationship with a certain someone, his priorities start to change. IN PROGRESS Rated M for upcoming chapter *sexual content* Modern Day
1. Chapter 1

Grasping From The Darkness

**Hey guys! I just started to write stories so cut me some slack. Please review, it would mean the world. Any suggestions on improving this would be much appreciated. The rating should be of precaution. Young viewers are not recomment due to chapters to come. Enjoy Chapter 1**

Chapter 1 Hiding beneath the Shadows

When Erik first considered college, the mere thought of it brought him to cackles. It was so ridiculous to him. How could a masked man be recommended into a college? There must have been some mix up, maybe there was another Erik Destler. Sure enough they were seeking the masked monster to be a part of their university. To say he was hesitant would be an understatement, all odds were against it. He would not only have to go up from his lair everyday to learn useless information for a sorry excuse of a teacher, but he found out just a few weeks before admission expiration dates that he would have to sleep in a dorm. After many days of thinking, Erik decided as useless as it could turn out, it could just as easily be a success.

There he was a few days after the discovery, carrying two briefcases, one on each side, walking into his dorm. He was quite impressed with the décor, expecting something far more foul then what lay ahead. Just across the hall he had noticed there was multiple shrieking being played out. "Stop it, no you're hurting me Meg!" He stopped, shaking his head, taking into account that he had loud neighbors.

He moved silently into the back of the classroom, lurking in the corner. He observed the groups of friends walking into the classroom, intensely chatting with one another. He shifted uncomfortably as he recognized almost half of the class was staring at him. He cleared his throat. What had he been thinking to expect? He snapped his head to the door once more as he saw two girls strut in.

"Meg, he was about to kiss me what was I supposed to do spit in his face?" the girl with the golden curls asked. She nodded to a row of desks which they walked down. "Thats what I wouldn't done. Cmon its Raoul. He's such a loser. " Said the girl that Erik guessed was Meg. They plopped down to the two seats next to Erik. "The backs always the best anyway." The blonde one exclaimed enthusiastically. Erik wondered when she was going to notice him. It's not hard to miss a man who's gawking at you. He immediately turned his head. There were plenty of empty seats around the classroom, why hadn't she sat somewhere else and away from him? Wouldn't she have been afraid of him? The class was about to begin and Erik overheard her sigh. "Meg," she whispered, "do you have a pen?" Meg shook her head teasingly. "That's what you get for stealing my covers in the middle of the night." "But the dog peed on mine!"

Erik turned his head around to her at all the commotion. Her head turned his way, and a flash of warning ran across his yellow eyes peeping through the mask. She flashed him a smile, ignoring his strange appearance, or so it seemed. "Hello!" The girl said, "You must be new here." He ducked his head, not wanting to talk to her. He could tell she was just an enthusiastic ball of energy. It was a waste talking to her. He kept his head down until he heard her sweet melodic voice say, "You're mask is cool by the way…" He shot his head up, raising an eyebrow from the half of his face that was exposed, "Cool?" "Yes and the fedora is a nice touch. It compliments your figure quite finely." She said jokingly tripping over her words. "Names Christine by the way. Christine Daae." Christine. Erik had never heard such an elegant, classy name which did a poor job describing her. She held out her hand expecting for him to shake it. He pulled out a pencil and stuffed it into her hand. "Here, I overheard you conversation." She took it hesitantly and smiled warily, "Oh….Um… Thanks." He nodded and turned back to his empty paper, writing his name.

"I see your name is Erik." He jolted up from his paper and looks at her in shock. "Yes, what are you trying to get at?" He clearly seemed annoyed. "I don't know. I figured, this guy let me borrow his pen, the least I can do is know his name." He chuckled darkly, amused at her oblivion. "You really are strange, you know that?" She coughed as response of what he said, "Excuse me? And why is that?" He shifted in his seat turning slightly towards her. "Because out of all the normal people in the class you choose to sit next to and socialize with the masked man in the corner." This caused her to laugh, which made Erik's eyes brighten up. "Aww I'm not strange. I find that the more interesting looking the person is, the more vibrant the person." With this, Erik noticed a twinkle in her eye as she smiled broadly. He sighed. Not getting this girls tactics. No girl ever socialized with him, or ever went near him for that matter.

Just as he was about to think of something to respond to, the teacher walked in and all pencils were picked up, ready to write. He could tell that he would have a hard time focusing with this incident occurring right before it.


	2. Chapter 2 Failed Attempts

Grasping From The Darkness

Chapter 2: Failed Attempts

"Hello class. Now being that I am your teacher there is to be no fooling around in this class. I expect a lot from you since this is the most advanced class you could possibly be in." Erik kept his eyes firmly on the teacher. He knew that if he unlocked his gaze, his eyes would wander towards Christine. What was she doing? She seemed to be chewing on her pen cap as she hummed a tune slightly. It wasn't so loud that the teacher would notice but enough for Erik to hear. He looked down at her, a wave a curiosity washed over his face as he pondered at the fact that she decided to talk to him. She looked up at him and grinned childishly. "I sing that to my dog whenever there's a thunderstorm going on. She hates thunderstorms." He looked down at his empty piece of loose leaf paper. He didn't want her to gain the satisfaction of knowing that this man was intrigued by her. Not her in particular but her voice.

He heard her voice reach closer to him as she whispered, "You don't have to be shy. I don't judge. In fact I find you quite intriguing. The ominous feel of your personality really speaks to me." He knew she was joking. Playing a silly game and yet once he heard her lips say those words he sat up straight, stiffening automatically. He purposely failed to make eye contact with her because that meant he was listening. Which he was but he didn't want her to know that. "Miss, I need to concentrate." He said still stiffly looking down at the paper. He nervously ran a hand through his hair. She looked down, taken aback at being rejected to a conversation. "Oh, I see. Well I'll have to wait to talk to you after class then." He cleared his throat, "Ahem, w-what?" She giggled slightly and said, "After class, we can talk then."

"May I ask about what you have in mind to talk about?" His voice was casual, even polite. "About you." She smiled and rested her head in her hand looking at him. He went to take his hand out from under his desk to nervously slick his hair back again but his hand smacked against the deck and he growled out of temporary pain. He cursed at himself for being so clumsy. "Wha-why me?" She laughed, "Because I want to know more about you. Is that so bad?" She asked as she punched him in the arm playfully. As soon as he felt her make physical contact with him he backed up, shielding himself. She quickly put her arm on the desk, self consciously. Erik inhaled deeply, "No, it's just that nobody's wanted to know about my life." She looked up at him with the saddest eyes he's ever seen. "Aww, no that couldn't possibly be true." He turned his head the other way, "Why would I lie to you? No one is ever interested in the masked freak known as Erik." She didn't know what to say to that. "Well… if it makes you feel any better, I'm very interested." The way she put emphasis on the very made him jolt. It almost sounded seductive. What was she leading to? She couldn't possibly think of him that way. First of all she didn't even know him and second of all, the masked freak? Really? Erik admitted that she was pretty. So why would a pretty girl such as Christine want a guy such as him? It clicked in his head. She… she _pitied _him. He turned around suddenly on edge, "Ma'am if I wanted your pity I would of just asked…"

"Ahem, Miss in the back do I have to remind you… no distracting other students." She bent back up into attention and mouthed an I'm sorry. "Now class I want you to write a 2 page essay on the study of the 1920s. You may start not. I'll give you till the end of the class." Both Erik and Christine started to scribble noted onto their papers. 10 minutes ran by and Erik heard a Psst. He looked at Christine. "What?" He whispered somewhat loudly. He was obviously annoyed at her actions of never ceasing to leave him alone. "I need help spelling a word. You look smart so I'm asking you for help." He nodded and urged her to go on. "Attractive…" He had to hear it a second time. How could she be in this class and not know how to spell that word. He laughed, "Well… how did you spell it?" Her arm reached out to go reach over Erik's. His eyes widened at her arm resting on his. She wrote a word on the paper. He couldn't see the word but he heard her whisper in his ear, "I'm pretty sure this is how you spell it but I want to just make sure." Her hand was taken away and his eyes widened as he scrunched up his eyes, making sure he read it right. On the top of his page was the neatly written word she wrote. _Erik._


	3. Chapter 3

Grasping From The Darkness

Chapter 3: Overboard

Erik gulped uncomfortably and his visible cheek turned beet red. "Wha-what is this?" She looked up simply, "It's your name." She giggled. "Wh-why would I- you write my name? Do you, umm, think that I'm attractive?" He thought that sentence would never escape off of his tongue. He would've never thought that someone thought of him as attractive. He was deformed, vile, an inhuman creature. Christine saw wonderment on his face. As if he wanted an explanation for what she said. She blinked her eyes, trying her hardest to seem like she was flirting with him. She liked how his reaction was so noticeable. She parted her lips, surely her lips were swelling and he stared at them. His eyebrows curved longingly at the sight of her inviting lips. "How else was I going to capture your attention?" She purred.

He looked down into his lap, nervously playing with his pencil. He looked up sharply and said, "You're distracting me. Please stop your games." "Games," she asked perplexed, "I'm only telling the truth Erik." She bit her bottom lip and his mouth watered. He wanted this insolent girl to stop teasing him. It was a big mistake to go to college; he could see that now for sure.

The class was dismissed and he bolted to the doorway and into the hallway. He was almost at his dorm when he felt a light figure bump into him. He flipped around and saw an ocean of curls in his face. She backed up and smiled, shyly, "Sorry. I couldn't stop in time." He glared at her, "So umm, anyway Mr. Masked Man, why are you so not social? Didn't your mommy teach you how to interact with someone?" He narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists. How dare she bring up his mother? His mother was a bitch who hated him. "Huh?" she said beaming, "Has your mother taught you anything?" He screamed in her face as they got to his door, "Stop! My mother hated me and beat me don't bring her up do you hear me?"

She whimpered as he held her shoulders. As Erik gazed into her eyes he saw fear. He mused to himself at the sight of her horror. He chuckled darkly and Christine flinched. "I-I'm sorry – truly sorry! I didn't mean any harm by it." Alarm renewed in her face as he tightened his grasp on her shoulders. He let go of her and she stepped back, arms up in defense. He turned around and went to search for his keys. He figured she'd be gone already. He's frightened her enough. He heard a faint breath and looked up from his keys, "You're still here." It was more like a statement then a question. Her mouth was still open and she was searching for the words and the courage to say. "You know, I'm not afraid of you, Erik. I wasn't making fun of you in class. I just was looking to be your friend. That's all I want." Somewhere in her phrase Erik turned around. "Enough of this shit. I don't believe one minute of it. No one has ever said any of these things to me, so why should I believe you're going to be the first one?" Her blue eyes dilated and she stepped forward towards him, he stiffened, looking down at her through narrow eyes. "I like you." He tilted his head in surprise. "From the moment I saw you I've liked you. You have to understand Erik that,"

She reached her hand out to touch his chest, her delicate hand was too tempting for Erik. He made a growl in his throat and stepped back, making it obvious that he did not welcome this intimate gesture. "understand, that I am not here to harm you. I am here to be friends with you." She looked up at his tall, lean figure; the yellow eyes were glaring at her with disbelief. She smirked and leaned against him, slightly. Erik immediately felt the curves of her breasts on his chest. This sensation was so new to him that he did not know what thoughts he was having. He felt something within his core, a weird feeling, later he labeled it, to his horror, as desire. To any guy who has been sexually active, this was no big deal, just another girl trying to flirt with them but Erik was different. He noticed this move and his mouth opened and he looked anywhere but her, "hopefully more than friends." She whispered invitingly. He moaned under his breath and she chuckled. It was a grumble at first, "You think you can do this to me. Try to charm me with your gestures. Well I am no fool, Christine. I am a monster and you do not know what cards you're playing with my dear." This tone she did not expect to come out of him. "Erik doesn't like to be teased and mimicked; he will not stand for it. Especially from some condescending girl. Don't try to pull this shit off it won't work." She whimpered and shuffled her feet nervously. "I suggest you leave now Madame…" She nodded obediently and moved to the door across from him and went inside quickly.

He shook his head. He did not need this kind of stress to add onto the mountain of stress he was receiving from college.


End file.
